Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

731–740 of 830 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#731

Post by z9znz »

ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #654
vladvasiliu wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be right, but as a personal anecdote, I totally agree with the sentiment you're responding to. I don't particularly enjoy working from the office and much prefer doing so from home, but I can tolerate it. I like my colleagues and shooting the breeze with them, but they're not my friends. But boy do I absolutely hate my commute, to the point that it shadows whatever positives there are when working from the of…

Preach, I haven't been to Paris since the Covid restrictions started and I feel so much more rested, I added the 2-3 hours commute to my sleep time and you couldn't get me to leave my dead little suburban town for any salary. I do feel some nostalgia for the in-office days but mostly for the times I was alone, like driving through an industrial zone at 5 A.M and seeing the bright red lights of a biochemical plant, th…

> 5 A.M and seeing the bright red lights of a biochemical plant, the smell of car exhaust

This gives me visions of Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed in the industrial zone.

Looking back at my younger self (who regularly drove 190+ kph to work on the freeway), I relish this idea.

But is there more to it? The night-time high speed driving, the office-before-others situation... is that not some unique sense of freedom or power? \

For me there is definitely magic in being a capable human in isolation with power to live and excel, especially when I know there will be other humans appearing later. Even at home remotely, there is a sense of power being in control of myself, my coffee-making, my news reading, and then optionally my meeting attendance...

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#732

Post by TinkersW »

I don't mind talking to coworkers, or some lunch break discussions, but really hated the commute, and the forced hours(I have problems keeping a fixed schedule, and require at least 8 hours of sleep to function).

Also hated the often pointless meetings/standups where that one coworker who never shuts the hell up rambles on forever and the person in charge doesn't do a damn thing about it.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#733

Post by rafaelero »

kjkjadksj wrote: post #453
rafaelero wrote: post #443

I feel exactly the same. The work I do seem to matter less to me when my whole interaction of my team is online.I used to extract so much personal satisfaction from work and now it's just a little bit. I am locked in this situation, though, because there is no way I am finding in Brazil a WFO job that pays as good as a remote job from a US company.

Its good to not derive all your satisfaction from work and to seek it out from things that are more pertinent to your life, versus your bosses. It will probably make retirement feel more fulfilling instead of empty.

I don't care about my boss, I care about doing things I enjoy with people I like.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#735

Post by dmitrygr »

Georgelemental wrote: post #166
atribecalledqst wrote: post #154

At least for me, my primary hangup for going back to the office is that COVID -isn't over-! Since I can do my job just as well from home as from the office, I'd far prefer to stay in an environment where I have control over my level of risk. (I realize not everybody has this at home, but I live alone) For this reason, when I hear corporate taking advantage of the between-wave lull to trumpet going back to the office,…

At this point COVID is about as over as it will ever be. So do you plan to continue living as you are for the rest of your life?

Downvoted for implied reckless disregard for others’ lives

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#736

Post by skirmish »

abeppu wrote: post #145

Before the pandemic and surge of remote work, a lot of us complained not just about going to the office, but that the office itself was pretty crappy. The open plan creates an environment of high distraction, low privacy, and physical discomfort. Whether or not people wanted to listen to music or anything for hours at a time, they were pushed to do it just to drown out a constant background noise of words that are hi…

Indeed. I noticed my hearing was getting worse since in office I kept increasing music volume in (futile) attempts to block out chatterboxes at the next desk. Destroying your health is not worth whatever faster promotions in-office work promises.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#738

Post by LawTalkingGuy »

tdeck wrote: post #676
LawTalkingGuy wrote: post #656

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That assumes that you can't work hard from home, which I don't believe to be true. Where's the analysis of the job to see if it can really be performed ideally remotely. Also, "hard" is a straw man. As a boss I want output not effort and part of being near coworkers is to avoid getting stuck and wasting resources. > where is the connection between investing yourself into your job and going in to the office If I was…

> Where's the analysis of the job to see if it can really be performed ideally remotely. Where's the analysis that says it can't? If you want my ass in the office, shouldn't the burden of proof be on you?

It's not a burden of proof situation because your boss is paying the bill. But, if it was about who claimed what, the employees are the ones making the claim that "remote work is just as productive".

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#739

Post by tdeck »

LawTalkingGuy wrote: post #738
tdeck wrote: post #676

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Where's the analysis of the job to see if it can really be performed ideally remotely. Where's the analysis that says it can't? If you want my ass in the office, shouldn't the burden of proof be on you?

It's not a burden of proof situation because your boss is paying the bill. But, if it was about who claimed what, the employees are the ones making the claim that "remote work is just as productive".

If it's about the boss's power, they can always just fire people who won't come into the office. If the boss doesn't want to do that, they've got to do the convincing. You either convince people or order them around and live with the morale consequences.

Re: Ask HN: Why don't I see gold at the end of the remote working rainbow?

#740

Post by mch82 »

akoncius wrote: post #724
ameister14 wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>they must login to show activity on their computer every 15 minutes or else be fired. This is the stupidest thing, I think - I don't care if you're at your computer all the time I am at my computer, I care if you get shit done

it gets a bit tricky when you ask urgent question to colleague and he is not responding to you for 30 minutes.

What question is so urgent? What’s the consequence of waiting 30 minutes, or until tomorrow, for an answer?
Post reply on HN